As if Bill isn't full of himself enough, she appears to him (naked and bloody, of course) a few times, tells him he's the chosen one to lead and to drink her. All of her.

But she does the same thing to another Authority Chancellor, and angry religious Bill promptly chops off his head. Lilith later appears to Salome and says the same thing. Bill, thankfully, isn't around for this appearance.

Clearly, Lilith isn't the right person to follow -- in case you were confused.

And now the battle lines have been drawn, appropriate for the penultimate episode in this season (hey, they were setting us up for something, I hoped). It was one of the better episodes of the season (except for a few campy-hilarious lines): replete with action that (finally!) brought together our favorite characters who have been painfully separated throughout the season.

At the Authority, Bill is more religious-crazy then ever -- and as a friend of mine pointed out, sounds more Bible-Belty, too. He forces Jessica to go and turn Jason into a vampire because, as Lilith says, the greatest gift vampires can give to humans is turning them. I'm pretty sure they'd accept some sort of pen instead.

Jessica, wisely, pretends to turn Jason, and as the two are being buried by two Authority guards, Jason shoots them both to escape. Jessica chooses this time to tell him that if, in fact, she had to spend eternity with someone, it would be him. So Jason responds by running off to Sookie to warn her about the impending vamp war.

Jessica hides out at Fangtasia for a bit, where Pam and Tara are fretting about the death of Sheriff Elijah. They had reason to worry. Chancellor Rosalyn heads to the bar because she can tell Eljiah has been killed -- he's her progeny it turns out. Pam takes credit for killing Elijah to protect Tara and she's arrested (NO!) and taken to the Authority.

Who else is there? Luna and Sam, who still as mice, are trying to find Emma. They (nakedly) find her but not before being discovered and put in jail. Though Sam volunteers to be Bill's breakfast. In case you're keeping count: Bon Temps is starting to populate the Authority building, but there has been a few defectors.

Nora -- finally! -- has seen the Godric-led light and realized that, yeah, Lilith is not a good god. And she celebrates by having sex with her sort-of brother Eric. Because there can't be a"True Blood"season without an Eric sex scene.

So basically we have crazy Bill, Salome and their Authority minions holding court. With the U.S. government no longer on their side (after they reveal that they are now a sanguinist regime, a visiting U.S. general tells them they're about to be bombed to hell before Eric kills him), the Authority is now battlefield No. 1.

Battlefield No. 2? The faerie club in the middle of the field. Sookie is hiding out there, even though it's not exactly the safest place to be when a vampire war is starting (vamps love them some faerie blood). But she's looking to find out more about this Worlo fellow whom she's promised to.

The faeries seem to think the Faerie Elder can help me out. And this woman is crazy wonderful and super-weird and dancy. She yells things like "KE$HA: FOR OR AGAINST?!" and BOYZ II MEN: FOR OR AGAINST?!" while being entirely not helpful with telling Sookie about this vampire who wants her.

She does, however, say that it's time to fight Russell Edgington -- who's coming for them and Sookie. So she's a brave crazy person. However, when Russell glamours Jason into telling him where the faerie club is, she resists letting her faerie children out to wage war.

She goes out herself to protect them from Russell, but he's too strong, bites her and kills her. Then he has the power to see into the invisible faerie club -- and see a scared Sookie. The episode ends with him charging for the faeries.

So. Many. Wars. And though there was so much death, surely more will come in next week's season finale. Jason is currently at the faerieland, but the preview for next episode shows him donning Army gear and storming the Authority. And I fully expect Pam to smart-talk her way out of jail.

But which of the major characters (if any) will die? Lilith would be a good start (chick could have bathed at some point this season), but will Sam and Luna make it? Will Andy Bellefleur, who put a half-faerie baby in Maurella (!), come to save the day? Will Bill see the non-Lilith way of things, thanks to the help of Eric?

Yeah, this episode actually made me want to watch the next (last!) episode. No small feat this season. What do you all think will happen?

MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM 'SUNSET'

A reminder that Pam is awesome: Dear HBO, more Pam next season. When Jessica hides out with her and Tara she retorts: "Maybe later we can braid each other's hair and talk about boys!" She also says that she and Eric find vampires just as irritating as humans. It can't be said enough how much I love Pam.

Best explaination for killing someone: After Salome yells at Eric for killing General Cavanaugh, Eric says, "He was a d---."

Lafayette has one line tonight but he made it count: "I'm a bitch, not a snitch. Love it."

Most laughable line from Sookie: After Jason runs off to try to track down Russell, she yells, "You give 'em hell." What's this, a cliched sports movie?

Baby vampires love them some trailer parks: Alcide, barely a part of this episode, killed some young vampires attacking his father's trailer. "When we die we're goo!!?" one yells.

Worst thing to say during sex: Nora to Eric: "Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me! What are we going to do?"

Arlene's marriage advice: When Andy asks the secret to she and Terry's happiness, she mentions trust and loyalty and honesty. "You never know when some Iraqi ghost lady is going to curse your entire family," she adds.

Sometimes, less is more. Tonight's episode clocked in at a brisk 50 minutes -- and it was one of the best episodes of the season. Even with the laughable introduction of a mysterious scroll. Dun-dun-dun!

Some new faces are headed to Bon Temps June 10 when "True Blood" returns for its fifth season. After releasing some teasers, HBO now is giving us a better look at those characters as well as some old favorites. Who's joining the cast? Christopher Meloni ("Law & Order: SVU"), Scott Foley ("The Unit"),...